


softly, please

by laehys



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Lowercase, M/M, Monsters, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laehys/pseuds/laehys
Summary: it’s not hard to love a monster, jeno discovered, it’s not hard at all when the creature only longs for a gentle touch and a healing that they can never achieve.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	softly, please

**Author's Note:**

> **day #3 - fairytale** for 23 days of wonder (a little wonder fest!!)

renjun arrived at his cottage smelling of destruction and death, body almost all covered by a cloud of thick, dark smoke that swirled around him, making it hard to see his features.

"i heard you're one of the best healers around the place," he said, voice sounding a little off, like it came from every place at the same time. jeno could feel it deep into his bones, making a shiver run down his spine, hairs rising on the back of this neck as his mind screamed at him, " _monster, monster, monster!_ r _un!"_

he didn't run. his job was to help people, after all.

"yes, i'm a healer. how can i help you?"

the thick, black smoke seemed to clear away a little bit, letting jeno see some of renjun's features more clearly; he had deep, dark eyes that would draw anyone in — but jeno was used to that and how monsters would try to lure in their victims, so he stood his ground.

"i don't like this," renjun said, hands moving in front of his chest, hands leaving a trace of dark smoke whenever they moved, "i don't like all this darkness and all the bad thoughts. i want it all gone from me. i want to be normal again..." and, in a smaller voice, he added, "i don't want to be a monster anymore."

crawling between worlds, stuck in between the veil of nightmares and reality, would do a number on anyone. jeno had heard about the humans who were cursed or fell victim to enchantments of other monsters, getting trapped into the same style of life, feeding on people's fear and life force.

but there, standing in front of him, renjun looked nothing like a monster, nothing like the looming, terrifying creature he had encountered once, many moons ago in the middle of the woods. renjun only stared at him with teary eyes and a bitten bottom lip, face so pale and devoided of color that it almost looked gray, the dark fumes surrounding his lower half, smoky tendrils enlacing around his neck and making his image slowly disappear before he became human-looking again.

jeno cleared his throat, take aback by renjun's wish. "i don't know if... if i can do this."

he could make potions and treat illnesses, could create simple spells and lift curses, but to remove the entire darkness and essence of what made someone a monster seemed impossible. jeno didn't know if he was capable of anything like that at all.

after all, if you took the emptiness from a monster, would that bring the person back or only made them more hollow and hungry? furiously searching for something to quench their never-ending thirst?

jeno only knew about monsters who'd bring chaos and destruction behind them, fear from others running through their veins and making them all-powerful. hard to kill and destroy.

but renjun only nodded his head, shoulders sagging with defeat hanging heavily upon them. "but can you try? please?"

jeno accepted and renjun slipped inside his home, looking out of place among all the ivy that grew on the walls, the plants that filled every inch of his house, the flowers that grew tucked in the corners and hung from the ceiling; a bright room filled with life — and now with a dark figure standing lost in the middle of it all.

renjun reeked of desperation and chaos, eyes so dark, so lost, that jeno felt like he couldn't turn him away, even though he knew deep inside of him that there was no way for him to help renjun not to be a monster anymore.

so, while renjun waited for him to make potions, to flip through old books and recite ancient spells in hope of sparking _something_ , jeno taught him how to dig into the earth just enough for him to plant new seeds; taught him how to tend to the little flowers that were growing from the ceiling; taught him how to stir the simplest potions and bottle them for all the other people who came looking for some help.

renjun stumbled and cried and fell, cursing everything and everyone around him, fingers digging deep into the earth as he tried to make the flowers bloom, tried to not let all the ones that jeno had so carefully taken care of die under his hands.

but it wasn't easy for a monster to learn how to care, for them not to destroy and kill everything around them when they only knew how to feast upon destruction and the end of all things. to try and create life, to make it thrive, sometimes seemed like something impossible to do. but under renjun's teardrops and sweat, little yellow flowers started to sprout out as the moon danced upon the night sky.

"will this ever end?" renjun whispered one night, a confession to the stars and to the moon, to jeno's ear. "it's still inside of me. i can feel it. i can feel it asking every time for something more, something bigger."

jeno looked pitifully towards renjun, brows low on his forehead. "i don't know," he answered truthfully. "i don't know if i can take this out of you and you still survive."

now, after so much time had passed, after he had taught renjun all he knew and had lived by his side, jeno felt uncharacteristically greedy. he didn't want to heal this one if it meant he'd leave. he didn't know if he wanted to risk trying something only for renjun's comfort while knowing it'd probably be fruitless.

"is there a way to save me?" renjun asked, lips red and eyes dark. the smoke around his body had mostly vanished by now, only some tendrils that wrapped around his figure and would follow behind him like a living shadow. "to make it all go away?"

"i don't know," jeno replied. "if it exists, then i don't know about it. and if i tried anything, i don't think you'd be able to survive it."

renjun didn't reply, looking up at the sky before he looked back at jeno. "are you sure?"

"yes. would... would it be something you'd still want to try?"

jeno didn't want to do that. his mind and heart ached with the thought of doing something, _anything_ , only to end up with renjun's figure disappearing in front of him because of something done by his hand. it filled jeno's mouth with a bitter taste, making him choke around the words, but he spat them all out for renjun's sake.

renjun didn't answer him immediately. he took his time, going back into the woods for a few days before he came back without saying a single word, the black cloud around him something thicker and bigger than when he had left.

for days renjun only worked at the garden and tended to the plants inside the cottage, silently helping jeno with his potions. he didn't share a single word, but jeno found out he didn't need them when renjun would look at him and jeno could read him clearly, could understand what he needed and what he wanted.

jeno patiently waited. he knew how monsters were — how they'd get lost inside themselves and how hard it'd be to pull them back if too much time had passed. but, still, he gave renjun his space and time because, more than anything, he didn't want renjun to vanish and leave him empty-handed and alone.

it’s not hard to love a monster, jeno discovered, it’s not hard at all when the creature only longs for a gentle touch and a healing that they can never achieve. jeno saw the empty spaces in renjun's essence and knew how easy it'd be to try and fill that with himself — but that was renjun; even with holes and loss in his own self, that was _renjun_.

so jeno stayed back.

the flowers had grown, were cut off, and had been planted back by the time renjun finally approached him again, his eyes dark, but not as deep and desperate as the first time.

"i don't want to go," he said, voice hoarse because of disuse. "i don't want to be a monster and i don't want to hurt others anymore, but i don't want to disappear. i want to stay with you and make flowers grow even if they have to die a hundred times before i can make them bloom."

jeno held back a sob, eyes stinging with unshed tears. "t-that's good. i don't want you to go too," he replied, one wavering hand resting over renjun's own hand. his skin was cold and the black tendrils of smoke made it even chiller, but jeno didn't move his hand away. "i'll teach you everything about the flowers and they won't die with you."

"i think they'll always rot away at first," renjun answered, voice heavy. "but i just have to live with this. just like i need to live with lots of other things inside myself."

"it's okay. we can deal with all of them together."

renjun visibly swallowed hard, adam's apple bobbing up. he looked from jeno's hand to his face, eyes shining. "okay."

the hunger would never leave him. being a monster was a part of himself, intricately woven in his essence so tightly that one couldn't pull apart what was renjun and what was the creature that feasted on other's fears and life. still, jeno loved all of him.

**Author's Note:**

> [ [twt](https://twitter.com/pinkhrj) | [ccat](https://curiouscat.me/rensungie) ]


End file.
